Part Five
Nick
Author's notes: This is the second to last chapter of the story. I pretty much wrap up the case in this chapter, but next chapter will be more emotions and feelings of the characters, plus wrapping up all the personal relationship things, etc. You'll see when we get there, I suppose. I must first warn you, however, that I have never understood the character of Nick Stokes. Sometimes he's sleazy, other times he's adorable. Some times he gets under your skin and other times you just love him, but you don't know why. So, therefore, I have tried my hardest to make Nick like he is on the show but I gotta tell you, it ain't easy.
Thanks: Thanks goes to Tash, for helping me with a few minor details. Ever the CSI expert ;) –wink. Oh, and Tash, we really need to go out and buy a Tahoe.
Enjoy. Please review, PLEASE REVIEW.
This case was driving me crazy. I hated these evidence-free environments. My mind told me it was the boyfriend, but what did I know? There was no murder-weapon, but Sara and Grissom were working on getting a warrant to search the kid's house.
Greg teaching Desiree about forensic science made it even more confusing. He always talked to me about his "girlfriend Jessica", but I had no idea he was close to her sisters. He had been devastated when he found the hair in Kortnee's wound was a DNA match to Desiree. But I had a feeling, an unspoken feeling, that she wasn't behind this.
Grissom and Sara exited the fish bowl room and grinned when they saw me standing in the hallway. Gil pulled out a piece of paper and swung it in front of my face. "Oh how I love warrants.." he began in a mocking tone. Sara chuckled and I rolled my eyes.
"You love catching the bad guys, don't you Gris?" I asked him, and his eyes twinkled.
"That's why the bad guys hate me." He said, and winked at Sara before walking the opposite way down the hall. "You coming, Nick? We've got a boy's bedroom to search through."
"Yippee.." I said, the lack of enthusiasm evident in my voice. "Hey Sara, did you find anything on the victim other than the hair and the head wound?" I asked, curious.
"A couple yellow fabrics, which we tested and it turns out they're cotton. Probably from a t-shirt or a sweater or something." She answered. "The victim was wearing all blue, so they have to be the perp's."
"Do you think she might still have evidence on her?" I asked. "Maybe you missed something?"
She looked hurt. "What do you mean, I missed something? I never miss anything." She said defensively.
I raised one eyebrow and smiled slightly. "You were with Grissom, Sar... who knows what was going through your mind?" She glared at me before I followed Grissom out to the Tahoe.
"What are you doing here?" A middle-aged woman yelled at us, blocking the doorway with her large frame. "You can't just come into my house like this, it's against the law."
Grissom flashed his precious warrant. "Actually, we can. Your son is under scrutiny for attempted murder." He half-smiled. "And he's got evidence in his bedroom."
"Step aside, ma'am." I ordered, while Sara laughed behind me. "Let us do our jobs."
We walked up the stairs to the suspect's bedroom. It was miraculously clean, not an item left on the floor. The bed was made, the windows were clean, the walls were spotless. Except for one thing. There was a hole in one of them.
"What's this?" I asked, moving closer. "It looks like it was made by a large, flat object..just like the thing that was used to conk Kortnee Wallace in the temple." Sara took a picture.
"Any ideas what that object might be?" She asked, bending down to search through a folded pile of clothes lying in the corner of the room.
"Piece of heavy wood?" Grissom suggested, ransacking the boy's dresser drawer. "A crowbar?" He said, lifting up the piece of equipment he found in one of the drawers.
"Bingo." I said, walking towards him. "Any blood?"
"Nope. Not surprising, there was no blood on the girl's head either." He said, packing the crowbar away in a plastic evidence bag.
"Any luck on yellow clothing?" I asked Sara. She only shook her head, deep in thought. "I'm going to search the closet for a knife."
"Good thinking." Grissom told me, then yelled out, "A YELLOW SHIRT!", holding up his discovery for us to see. Sara and I both laughed loudly.
"Awesome." Sara said simply, and smiled at him sweetly. "Now keep looking, and don't yell, I have a headache."
I started looking through the stuff the boyfriend had in his closet. "Well, I guess now we know why his room is so clean," I said, pointing to the mountains of junk lying on the ground of the closet. They both looked over and gave off surprised glances. Sara walked towards where I was standing.
"Teenagers.." She stated, then sat down on the ground beside the pile of clothes and started rummaging through it.
I looked on the top shelf. A couple CD's, some textbooks, and...my fingers touched something sharp and cold. "Oh this is just too easy!" I shouted out, and pulled the knife down to meet my eyes. "Here's our murder weapon."
"Any blood?" Grissom asked.
"More good news. It's covered. Something tells me this kid doesn't exactly plan well."
We searched the bedroom for a while longer. Sara came up with a couple more yellow cotton articles of clothing. Along with a couple hairs from the window, bed, and door, plus the crowbar and knife, we had struck gold.
"Now you know why I love warrants so much." Grissom said as we walked out of the house carrying our kits.
"Yup." Sara agreed. We started to cross the road, Sara taking the lead. Out of nowhere, a green Mercedes spun around the corner.
"SARA!" Grissom screamed and grabbed the edge of her blouse, pulling her to the side of the road. The car continued on its way, not even noticing the three of us, staring at the now-empty road that lay before us.
"Oh my God.." Sara breathed, holding one hand to her chest. She panted heavily before falling, face first, against Grissom's chest.
"Shit." I swore. "That car almost pancaked you!"
"Thanks Nick...." Grissom commented sarcastically, rubbing Sara's back. "..for that lovely overview."
Sara was crying now, light, slightly muffled sobs into Grissom's blue cashmere sweater. He rubbed her hair, his eyes closed. His mind in another place. "Sh..." He whispered, and pressed his lips against her forehead. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and, after looking both ways, started to walk slowly across the road to the Tahoe.
The slam of the door snapped Grissom out of it, and he gently lifted Sara's head and looked her in the face. His lips moved, probably saying words of encouragement. God knows that's one thing I've never been good at. But Sara didn't need me, I knew that. Because she had Gil. As much as she thought she didn't, she did.
"We got a murder weapon..." I sang, walking into the break room after we had sent all of the evidence in to Greg to be processed.
"Really?" Catherine asked, and grinned. She lifted her eyes up to the ceiling and mouthed, "Thank you."
Warrick chuckled and gave me a high five. "Nice job Bro." He said, and stood up. "I am going home. I've been here since five." He lifted up the fingers of one hand to emphasize his point.
I raised my eyebrows. "You and Catherine were here alone since five? Uh-oh..." I mocked, dropping my coat down on one of the chairs. "I hope you acted professionally." I made a tsk-tsk sound with my tongue and Catherine rolled her eyes.
"You are such a child." She said. Warrick laughed.
A few minutes later Greg poked his head in the room and gave a thumbs- up to me and Catherine. "We got some kick-ass results, you guys. Check this out." We followed him into processing.
"The blood on the knife matches Kortnee, and in case there was any doubt, boyfriend's prints were all over the knife. I got Warrick to do that just before he left. He gave me grief, but it was worth it." He was grinning like a monkey, so I slapped him on the back and congratulated him on a job well-done.
"The yellow fibers?" I asked. "Anything on those?"
"The fibers from the t-shirt Sara found in the kid's bedroom match the ones on Kortnee."
"Along with the eye-witness account Warrick got from Kortnee, this damn thing is solves, baby." I lightly slapped Catherine on the back. She turned and gave me a look.
"I'm saying this for your own good, Nick. Don't you ever call me that again."
Greg suddenly frowned. "Where is Sara?"
I shrugged. "Probably with Grissom. She almost got smashed by this car today on our way to the Tahoe."
"You're kidding?" Catherine asked, her eyes wide. "Jeez...what happened?"
"We were on our way across the road, some car came swerving around the corner, and Grissom pulled Sara out of the way JUST in time." I sighed. "It was pretty freaking scary."
"Well, we solved this freaking case!!!" Warrick suddenly appeared from around the corner. "Let's go tell the rest of the gang!" He did a mock tap dance and motioned for us to follow him into the break room.
"I thought you went home." I said. He didn't answer.
Once we got to the break room, Sara and Grissom were sitting at the table with coffee mugs. I gave high-fives to everyone and then walked to the fridge. "Milk, anyone? It's on me."
All of the five others presents voiced their enthusiasm, and in a few minutes I was sitting down to a cold one with some of my very best friends.
Nick
Author's notes: This is the second to last chapter of the story. I pretty much wrap up the case in this chapter, but next chapter will be more emotions and feelings of the characters, plus wrapping up all the personal relationship things, etc. You'll see when we get there, I suppose. I must first warn you, however, that I have never understood the character of Nick Stokes. Sometimes he's sleazy, other times he's adorable. Some times he gets under your skin and other times you just love him, but you don't know why. So, therefore, I have tried my hardest to make Nick like he is on the show but I gotta tell you, it ain't easy.
Thanks: Thanks goes to Tash, for helping me with a few minor details. Ever the CSI expert ;) –wink. Oh, and Tash, we really need to go out and buy a Tahoe.
Enjoy. Please review, PLEASE REVIEW.
This case was driving me crazy. I hated these evidence-free environments. My mind told me it was the boyfriend, but what did I know? There was no murder-weapon, but Sara and Grissom were working on getting a warrant to search the kid's house.
Greg teaching Desiree about forensic science made it even more confusing. He always talked to me about his "girlfriend Jessica", but I had no idea he was close to her sisters. He had been devastated when he found the hair in Kortnee's wound was a DNA match to Desiree. But I had a feeling, an unspoken feeling, that she wasn't behind this.
Grissom and Sara exited the fish bowl room and grinned when they saw me standing in the hallway. Gil pulled out a piece of paper and swung it in front of my face. "Oh how I love warrants.." he began in a mocking tone. Sara chuckled and I rolled my eyes.
"You love catching the bad guys, don't you Gris?" I asked him, and his eyes twinkled.
"That's why the bad guys hate me." He said, and winked at Sara before walking the opposite way down the hall. "You coming, Nick? We've got a boy's bedroom to search through."
"Yippee.." I said, the lack of enthusiasm evident in my voice. "Hey Sara, did you find anything on the victim other than the hair and the head wound?" I asked, curious.
"A couple yellow fabrics, which we tested and it turns out they're cotton. Probably from a t-shirt or a sweater or something." She answered. "The victim was wearing all blue, so they have to be the perp's."
"Do you think she might still have evidence on her?" I asked. "Maybe you missed something?"
She looked hurt. "What do you mean, I missed something? I never miss anything." She said defensively.
I raised one eyebrow and smiled slightly. "You were with Grissom, Sar... who knows what was going through your mind?" She glared at me before I followed Grissom out to the Tahoe.
"What are you doing here?" A middle-aged woman yelled at us, blocking the doorway with her large frame. "You can't just come into my house like this, it's against the law."
Grissom flashed his precious warrant. "Actually, we can. Your son is under scrutiny for attempted murder." He half-smiled. "And he's got evidence in his bedroom."
"Step aside, ma'am." I ordered, while Sara laughed behind me. "Let us do our jobs."
We walked up the stairs to the suspect's bedroom. It was miraculously clean, not an item left on the floor. The bed was made, the windows were clean, the walls were spotless. Except for one thing. There was a hole in one of them.
"What's this?" I asked, moving closer. "It looks like it was made by a large, flat object..just like the thing that was used to conk Kortnee Wallace in the temple." Sara took a picture.
"Any ideas what that object might be?" She asked, bending down to search through a folded pile of clothes lying in the corner of the room.
"Piece of heavy wood?" Grissom suggested, ransacking the boy's dresser drawer. "A crowbar?" He said, lifting up the piece of equipment he found in one of the drawers.
"Bingo." I said, walking towards him. "Any blood?"
"Nope. Not surprising, there was no blood on the girl's head either." He said, packing the crowbar away in a plastic evidence bag.
"Any luck on yellow clothing?" I asked Sara. She only shook her head, deep in thought. "I'm going to search the closet for a knife."
"Good thinking." Grissom told me, then yelled out, "A YELLOW SHIRT!", holding up his discovery for us to see. Sara and I both laughed loudly.
"Awesome." Sara said simply, and smiled at him sweetly. "Now keep looking, and don't yell, I have a headache."
I started looking through the stuff the boyfriend had in his closet. "Well, I guess now we know why his room is so clean," I said, pointing to the mountains of junk lying on the ground of the closet. They both looked over and gave off surprised glances. Sara walked towards where I was standing.
"Teenagers.." She stated, then sat down on the ground beside the pile of clothes and started rummaging through it.
I looked on the top shelf. A couple CD's, some textbooks, and...my fingers touched something sharp and cold. "Oh this is just too easy!" I shouted out, and pulled the knife down to meet my eyes. "Here's our murder weapon."
"Any blood?" Grissom asked.
"More good news. It's covered. Something tells me this kid doesn't exactly plan well."
We searched the bedroom for a while longer. Sara came up with a couple more yellow cotton articles of clothing. Along with a couple hairs from the window, bed, and door, plus the crowbar and knife, we had struck gold.
"Now you know why I love warrants so much." Grissom said as we walked out of the house carrying our kits.
"Yup." Sara agreed. We started to cross the road, Sara taking the lead. Out of nowhere, a green Mercedes spun around the corner.
"SARA!" Grissom screamed and grabbed the edge of her blouse, pulling her to the side of the road. The car continued on its way, not even noticing the three of us, staring at the now-empty road that lay before us.
"Oh my God.." Sara breathed, holding one hand to her chest. She panted heavily before falling, face first, against Grissom's chest.
"Shit." I swore. "That car almost pancaked you!"
"Thanks Nick...." Grissom commented sarcastically, rubbing Sara's back. "..for that lovely overview."
Sara was crying now, light, slightly muffled sobs into Grissom's blue cashmere sweater. He rubbed her hair, his eyes closed. His mind in another place. "Sh..." He whispered, and pressed his lips against her forehead. I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and, after looking both ways, started to walk slowly across the road to the Tahoe.
The slam of the door snapped Grissom out of it, and he gently lifted Sara's head and looked her in the face. His lips moved, probably saying words of encouragement. God knows that's one thing I've never been good at. But Sara didn't need me, I knew that. Because she had Gil. As much as she thought she didn't, she did.
"We got a murder weapon..." I sang, walking into the break room after we had sent all of the evidence in to Greg to be processed.
"Really?" Catherine asked, and grinned. She lifted her eyes up to the ceiling and mouthed, "Thank you."
Warrick chuckled and gave me a high five. "Nice job Bro." He said, and stood up. "I am going home. I've been here since five." He lifted up the fingers of one hand to emphasize his point.
I raised my eyebrows. "You and Catherine were here alone since five? Uh-oh..." I mocked, dropping my coat down on one of the chairs. "I hope you acted professionally." I made a tsk-tsk sound with my tongue and Catherine rolled her eyes.
"You are such a child." She said. Warrick laughed.
A few minutes later Greg poked his head in the room and gave a thumbs- up to me and Catherine. "We got some kick-ass results, you guys. Check this out." We followed him into processing.
"The blood on the knife matches Kortnee, and in case there was any doubt, boyfriend's prints were all over the knife. I got Warrick to do that just before he left. He gave me grief, but it was worth it." He was grinning like a monkey, so I slapped him on the back and congratulated him on a job well-done.
"The yellow fibers?" I asked. "Anything on those?"
"The fibers from the t-shirt Sara found in the kid's bedroom match the ones on Kortnee."
"Along with the eye-witness account Warrick got from Kortnee, this damn thing is solves, baby." I lightly slapped Catherine on the back. She turned and gave me a look.
"I'm saying this for your own good, Nick. Don't you ever call me that again."
Greg suddenly frowned. "Where is Sara?"
I shrugged. "Probably with Grissom. She almost got smashed by this car today on our way to the Tahoe."
"You're kidding?" Catherine asked, her eyes wide. "Jeez...what happened?"
"We were on our way across the road, some car came swerving around the corner, and Grissom pulled Sara out of the way JUST in time." I sighed. "It was pretty freaking scary."
"Well, we solved this freaking case!!!" Warrick suddenly appeared from around the corner. "Let's go tell the rest of the gang!" He did a mock tap dance and motioned for us to follow him into the break room.
"I thought you went home." I said. He didn't answer.
Once we got to the break room, Sara and Grissom were sitting at the table with coffee mugs. I gave high-fives to everyone and then walked to the fridge. "Milk, anyone? It's on me."
All of the five others presents voiced their enthusiasm, and in a few minutes I was sitting down to a cold one with some of my very best friends.